Gemotions

"Another coffee?" Amelia asked, her voice a bright, unwelcome intrusion into his muted world. He just shook his head, staring at the swirling patterns in the foam of his untouched cappuccino. The news had stolen the vibrancy from the world. Everything felt muted, as though someone had turned down the volume on life.

He'd spent the entire afternoon walking, aimlessly, the city's noise blending into a background hum. His half-sister, a woman he had never met, consumed his thoughts. The implications were vast, the possibilities endless. He didn't want this.

He wanted the quiet understanding of the past he had painstakingly built. Now, it felt as though the foundations had been cracked. He pushed his chair back, the screech of it against the floor amplifying the silence in the cafe.